Thursday, July 18, 2013

Summer vacation. Time to head to the beach. Do some grilling. Nap in the shade. Eat some ice cream. Read. Swim. Play with my niece and nephew. Watch my cousin get married. Do a little mid-year reboot.I hope your summer so far is filled with all your favorite things.

Monday, July 15, 2013

I've been crap at posting regularly, but I've been keeping up my Vegan Mondays rather well. In fact, a couple weeks ago, I had a Vegan Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday. It's gotten relatively easy as I now work near The Butcher's Daughter and other super veg-friendly, if not total vegetarian or vegan, spots. And while I still don't think I can ever forgo seafood or bird, I am trying to eat less of it. Trying to make a habit of always going for the greens and grains. Of course this pious eating is offset by many slabs of cheese and pints of ice cream. I haven't found any flavors that make my heart sing the way I did last summer, but I did recently try Ben & Jerry's Greek yogurt banana peanut butter flavor (4 out of 5) and limited-edition NYC cannolli flavor, made with my beloved mascarpone (only 3 out of 5).MorningCoffee with almond milk (I also switched from soy after my post a few weeks back)Oatmeal with blueberries AfternoonKale salad and roasted sweet potatoes and beets (as much as I love The Butcher's Daughter, I love The Smile To Go, and appreciate being able to get a lunch under $10. Prices in this city are just getting ridiculous)Ginger candies (those gooey little things you sometimes get at a Chinese or Thia restaurant. Our current office is essentially in Chinatown so, for better or worse, nearby snacks are limited)Banana EveningFarro salad with roasted zucchini, red peppers and sundried tomatoesVeggie chipsHope you're all having a super week and enjoying the height of summer!

Sunday, July 7, 2013

I have a thing for Galignani. It's where I used to go to feel both inspired by French chicness and grounded by the English language. It's where I stumbled upon and stuttered hello to the one-and-only Bill Cunningham. It's where I bought birthday gifts and summer reads and finally said a teary farewell before departing for home in New York.So imagine the grin that lit up my face when Grace of Will She Love Paris?, who understands the power of dreaming, sent me these photos.

Ta-da!!!! Paris, My Sweet has had some nice success. But this, being sighted in Galignani, is what dreams are made of!

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

But wait, there’s more. Another New Guard blogger
worth meeting! In fact, Edna of Expat Edna really knows the ins and outs of
living abroad. The “serial expat” is a globetrotting, sports loving change
agent who makes me exhausted just thinking about her pace and adventures. While
her job and wanderlust often take her outside Paris, when she’s there, she’s firmly
entrenched on the Right Bank, eating up the restaurant scene, picnicking along
the Seine, and smiling her way through the amazing opportunities and unexpected
delights that come with living in the City of Light. Meet Expat Edna!

Hometown:

York,
Pennsylvania

Current quartier:

16th
arrondissement

How long have you been in Paris?

A year
and a half

What brought you there?

I wanted
to learn French for my career; because I learn best through immersion, I was
looking for jobs in Francophone countries. By pure chance the job offer I
received happened to be in Paris.

What do you do for a living?

I work
in international sports media. I covered swimming and athletics at the London
Olympics, spent a month in Azerbaijan for a FIFA U-17 World Cup—that sort of
thing. I also edit a quarterly sports magazine. I keep Paris as my home base
and tutor a French student here between sports gigs.

Your favorite thing about living in Paris:

My
friends, the food, and picnics combining the two. Living near Trocadero is
pretty handy too.

The coolest thing about being an expat:

This is
my fifth year as an expat (I spent three years in Asia before moving to Paris)
and without a doubt the coolest part is the adventures. I get to experience the
craziest things as part of my daily life: breakfast at the Pompidou, lunch at
the World Bank, meeting the Irish president at the embassy in
Paris, stumbling across Nicolas Sarkozy speaking in my neighborhood. Most
importantly, I never would have met my fiancé or reached my dream career if I
hadn't moved abroad after graduation.

Your “secret” about Paris:

Go to
the Louvre right when they open in the morning. Before 10 am, it's
like you're the only person in the building and it feels slightly
surreal.

Your favorite thing to blog about:

Food,
surprisingly. My original intention was to write about life in Paris and my
travels, hoping to inspire others in their early 20s to move abroad—but no,
half the time I'm writing about what I ate.